The Defense Dept. has asked Congress for several legislative changes in acquisition. One of DOD’s requests is to raise the micro-purchase threshold to $10,000, up from the current $5,000 for defense agencies and $3,500 in civilian agencies.

The micro-purchase threshold applies to purchases using government charge cards. Such buys may be especially helpful to small firms looking to get a start in government contracting because they are relatively quick and easy to approve.

Another proposal would cancel a requirement for contracting officers to determine that an interagency acquisition is the best strategy, before placing an order over $550,000 on a Federal Supply Schedule contract. The current requirement also applies before placing an order against any government-wide contract (GWAC).

The DOD request to Congress points out that the existing requirement is contrary to recent Government Accountability Office advice as well as recent congressional actions.

Other proposals

• Another proposal raises the threshold for filing protests of task and delivery orders under multiple award contracts. The threshold would increase to $25 million, from the current $10 million.
• DOD officials also want to raise the threshold for reporting on the amount invoiced for direct labor hours on service contracts.
• DOD officials want to reduce the reporting requirements for federal contractors regarding salaries of their highest-paid employees. Currently, contractors with at least $25 million in federal contracts that compose at least 80% of the company’s revenues must report compensation for their top five highest-paid employees.

 

-from SetAside Alert